Hand truck



J. A. BYINGTON 2,062,498

HAND TRUCK Filed Dec. 19, 1935 Cir Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES HAND TRUCK James Augustus Byington, Orlando, Fla. Application December 19, 1935, Serial No.55,261

9 Claims.

The invention relates to hand trucks, particularly adapted for handling stacks of boxes, for instance boxes of oranges, and has for its object to provide a device of this character wherein the truck, adjacent its wheeled lower end, is provided with outwardly and inwardly movable arms terminating in gripping arms adapted to engage opposite sides of the lower box of a stack of boxes and with toes to go under said box for supporting and gripping the stack of boxes for a trucking operation.

A further object is to provide a partially rotatable gear, foot operated and having'link connections with the outwardly and inwardly movable gripping arms for moving the same to gripping or released position.

A further object is to proportion the gear segments and position the pivotal points of the links whereby when the arms are forced inwardly by the movement of the gear segment, their inner pivotal points will pass through and beyond a line drawn between the outer pivotal points of the link and the center of the rotatable gear segment, to which the inner ends of the links are pivoted.

A further object is to mount the movable parts of the gripping device in a casing so that the device as a unit may be attached to a conventional form of hand truck without varying the construction of the truck, thereby allowing the device to be easily applied to hand trucks now in use.

A further object is to provide guide bars within the casing between which the inward and outwardly movable gripping arms slide in their movement and to extend the lower guide bar ends beyond the sides of the casing for additionally bracing the gripping arms while supporting a load.

A further object is to provide enlarged recesses behind the inwardly and outwardly movable arms for allowing freedom of movement of the links upwardly and downwardly as they are moved to operative or inoperative positions.

A further object is to provide the casing with a face plate adapted to house and enclose the operating mechanism thereby preventing damage thereto by engaging obstructions or articles.

A further object is to provide the operating segment with a rearwardly extending shaft, rotatably mounted in a bearing of the casing and terminating rearwardly of the casing and provided with a foot pedal, adapted to be engaged by the foot of the operator'for rocking the segment for a gripping or releasing operation.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing-from the spirit of the invention. 7 In the drawing? Figure 1 is a view in front .elevationpflthe truck. I

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the lower that: r

the truck.

Figure 3 is a rear elevatio'n'of the truck.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the lower end of the truck, showing the face plate removed thelower' end of for better illustrating the operatingmechanism within the casing.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the mechanism carrying casing.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the lower corners of the casing with the faceplate removed.

Figure 7 is a view in elevationof'the operating gear segment and interruptedgear showing, the

stop means carried thereby.-

Referringto the drawing, the numeral l designates theside bars of a conventional form :of

truck, which are connected together in the usual manner by cross bars 2, and-tie rods 3. The lower ends of the side bars I are provided with bearing brackets 4, in, which are journalled the ends of the axle 5, on which are mounted the usual supportingwheels 6. I

In gripping trucks of I operating mechanism has heretofore ,beenpivoted to the parts of the truck body and-constructed in a manner whereby-the gripping mechanism necessarily has to bemanufactured at the same time as the truck. In thepresent invention however, all of the working parts are enclosed within a rectangularshaped casing 1, which comprises the main body 8 having a'chamber 8a. therein and a cover plate 9. The body 8 and the coverplate-S are preferably of the same rectangular formjandwhen in en gagement with each other and after the assembling of the parts within the chamber 8 of the body, they are placed as a. unit-on the side bars I beneath the wear strips l0 and are boltedto the this general. type" the bars I by means of bolts H which extend trans"- versely throughthe bars. .Some of the;;bolts ll, for'instance those adjacent the lower end of the truck form means for holding the gripping guide strips 12 and the axlebrackets din position, therefore it will be seen that it will only be necessary to apply the casing I to the lower truck end and secure the bolts I l to assemble the'gripping device on the truck. It will ,be n oted that the guide bars l2 engage the upper and lower,

sides of the outwardly and inwardly movable arms l3, which carry the angularly disposed grip;-

ping arms l4. Thelowr bar IZfhOweverIpreferably has its ends lZa; extending beyond the sides of the truck for additionally bracing the slidable arms I 3 when in extended position, and when supporting a stack of boxes, for instance orange boxes. Gripping arms M are preferably provided with inwardly extending V-shaped flanges I5 for engaging under the lower box of a stack of boxes, thereby positively supporting the weight on the arms I4 of the slidable members I 3.

Rotatably mounted in a bearing l6 carried by the rear side of the body of the casing 8 is a shaft H, the rear end of which terminates in arms IS on which the operator places his foot for causing a gripping or releasing operation of a stack of boxes. Secured to the inner end of the shaft |1 within the chamber Ba of the body is a gear segment IS, the ends of which terminate in stop lugs 20, which stop'lugs are positioned to form a positive stop at the extreme movements of the gripping members. Gear segment l9 meshes with an interrupted gear 2|, and when rocked to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 opens the jaws; when rocked to the position shown in Figure 4 moves the jaws inwardly for a box gripping and supporting operation. The interrupted gear 2| is provided with a portion 22 without teeth and the stops 20 of the rockable segment H! 00- operate with this surface at the ends of its oscillation for limiting the movement of the parts. Pivotally connected at 23 to the interrupted gear 2| are links 24, which have their outer ends pivotally connected at 25170 the rear sides of the slidable arms l3 of the gripping jaws. The inner ends of the links are provided with reverse positioned curved portions 26 so that the pivotal points 23 of the links upon the gripping operation as shown in Figure 4, may pass through straight lines between the pivotal point 2! of the interrupted gear 2| and the outer pivotal points 25 of the links; therefore it will be seen that the laws will be maintained in gripping engagement with opposite sides of a box orother article. It will be noted by referring to Figure 4, in which the parts are shown in gripping operation, that it will only be necessary for the operator to force the short foot pedal arm I 8 downwardly to force the gripping members outwardly for releasing a stack of receptacles.

The opposite sides'of the body I, rearwardly of the slidable arms l8, are provided with recesses or channels 28, which flare inwardly and through which channels the'outer ends of the links 24 extend. By flaring the channels 28 inwardly, it will be noted that there will be freedom of movement upwardly and downwardly of the links 24, and to allow freedom of downward movement of the curved portion of one of the links, the chamber 8a is provided witha recess 29 at its lower portion.

From the above it will be seen that a truck of the hand type'is provided with means for grippinga load, and which means is carried by a singlecasing, thereby allowing the gripping means to be assembled as a unit on a hand truck. It will also be seen that the links are provided with means whereby they will hold the clamping membersin clamped relation and that the interengaged gearing is provided with stop means for limiting the movement of the gearing and the parts a'tthe ends of their range of movement.

' The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new and useful is:

*lpThe combination with a hand truck, of means for gripping receptacles, said means comprising a casing anchored to the truck, outwardly and inwardly movable gripping arms carried by opposite sides of the casing, a rockable gear segment within the casing, an interrupted gear within the casing and meshing with the gear segment, link connections between the gripping members and the interrupted gear at spaced points in rela tion to the interrupted gear and means cooperating with the gear segment for rocking the same.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 including stop means carried by the segment and interrupted gear for limiting the movement of said gear and segment at the ends of the strokes of the segment.

3. The combination with a hand truck, of receptacle gripping means carried by said truck, said receptacle gripping means comprising a chambered casing mounted on the truck, inwardly and outwardly movable gripping arms carried by the casing, a rotatable gear within the chamber of the casing, link connections between the outwardly and inwardly movable gripping members and the rotatable gear, the pivotal connections between the inner ends of the link connections and the rotatable gear being at opposite sidesof the pivotal point of the gear and in positions whereby upon rotation of the gear in one direction the pivotal points of the links to the rotatable gear will pass through lines drawn between the rotatable gear center and the pivotal points of connection of the outer ends of the links to the gripping members thereby locking the gripping members in one position, and means for rotating the rotatable gear.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 including a rotatable gear segment meshing with the rotatable gear and'forming means for rotating the rotatable gear in either direction.

5. A device as set forth in claim 3 including a rockable gear segment within the chamber of the casing and meshing with the rotatable gear and forming means for rotating the rotatable gear.

6. A device as set forth in claim 3 including a rockable gear segment for rotating the rotatable gear and stop means carried by the segment and gear for limiting the movement thereof at the ends of its strokes.

7. The combination with inwardly and outwardly movable gripping arms carried by a hand truck, of means for moving said arms inwardly and outwardly, said means comp-rising a rotatablegear between the arms, link connections between opposite sides of the gear and the gripping arms, a rockable gear segment meshing with the rotatable gear, said gear segment having stop means cooperating with the rotatable gear for limiting the movement thereof at the ends of its strokes.

8. A device as set forth in claim 7 wherein the stop means is positioned and the links shaped so that the inner pivotal ends of the links to the rotatable gear will pass through lines drawn between the center of the gear and the outer pivotal ends of the links, thereby forming a looking means for the inward movement of the jaw.

9. A device as set forth in claim 7 wherein the gripping jaws are provided with inwardly and outwardly movable arms slidably mounted in the casing, recesses behind said arms, said link connections extending through said recesses to their pivotal connections, said link connections being vertically movable in said recesses.

JAMES AUGUSTUS BYINGTON. 

